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Celebration of a Cavalry Christmas
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The Thoroughbred
December2021
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With Christmas fast approaching, I realized that we needed a tree for the big room where everyone would gather. We needed just the right tree to fit the space. Without a moment’s hesitation or a second thought, I volunteered to find our Tannenbaum. I slipped out one evening after dinner and headed for the grenze, where earlier on a border patrol inspection I had spotted viable candidates. In short order, I found the appropriate evergreen, chopped it down like Washington on a cherry tree and carried it back to camp, sticking out the back of the jeep. This was the necessary touch for our Christmas decorations.
My wife, Susan, and I spent our first Christmas as a married couple in the day room at the border camp in Hof. I was nearing the completion of my first border tour and Susan would deliver our first child within two weeks. Wives and children were brought to the border by bus on Christmas day for a great meal and togetherness. Fox Troop Commander Bob Ravell and his wife, Jennifer, did their best to host the entire “family.” While not exactly the stuff of Yuletide carols, it was a wonderful Christmas, nonetheless.
As we celebrate another Christmas, I have only wonderful memories of the first one with Susan on the border. When we decorate each year, the first ornament I place on our tree is a needle point 2/2 encased in metal, that always hangs in a prominent spot. It forever reminds me not only of that Christmas but our time in Second Squadron.
I am grateful for that experience so long ago and grateful now to be able to work with so many wonderful people in the preservation of our heritage and fostering the broader community of veterans old and young of the Second Cavalry. Your patriotism and generosity inspire me every day.
Your Board has been working hard since Atlanta on many fronts, laying the groundwork for much to come. We are making strides on our website, the 2023 Reunion in Annapolis, Maryland in April 2023, Dragoon for Life outreach and much more. Stay tuned to this frequency for more in the next several months. In the meantime, please take advantage of the opportunity to purchase Tiger 6’s book Move to the Sound of the Guns mentioned elsewhere. While we aren’t raising funds for a project as large as the Memorial, your contributions go a long way in what we are able to do as an Association; please don’t hesitate to contribute to our various funds such as the 1836 Society and The Always Ready Troop. Your donations do make a difference.
On behalf of the Board, I hope that you have a wonderful holiday. Perhaps you have a fond memory of Christmas with the Regiment. If you do, please email me at [email protected] with your story, I’d love to hear it. Always Ready!
Tim
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Are your buddies members of the Association?
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C’mon Trooper you must know someone that you served with that isn’t yet a member of the 2d Cavalry Association. During this time of year it is the perfect time to reach out, find out how they are doing and ask them to join!
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Why don’t you just forward this email to your buddies…
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More 2d Dragoon Gear coming in January
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Sometimes having been deployed overseas, and settling overseas brings its challenges, Former 3/2ACR CSM R.T. Chittick passed away in October. In the absence of an obituary, please find some remembrances from friends.
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On a blistering cold night in February 1978 when I walked into K Troop for the first time, one of the first faces I saw was R.T. Chittick’s. Not because he was present, but because his photograph was on the wall along with other Troopers who were lucky enough to get assigned there. As I came to understand it, he’d been the K Troop 1SG, had left to attend the CSM’s Academy, but would return upon graduation. Apparently, he was that good.
When I finally met him, CSM Chittick was most likely less than five years removed from the jungles of Viet Nam where he served with distinction in the Blackhorse and learned what worked and what didn’t as well as what really mattered and what didn’t. Little did I know as a buck Private that his leadership example would become the gold standard for the rest of my career, and quite honestly, for the rest of my life.
I didn’t get to know the CSM very well until my second tour in Amberg when I was assigned to the S-3. From just down the hall, I watched him execute his duties as a dedicated professional who spent his entire life taking care of soldiers and their families.
The CSM I remember was a “fair arbiter”, but didn’t suffer fools lightly. If you gave 100%, he was there for you- period. Conversely, if you didn’t perform, he didn’t hesitate to “tighten your shot group” or “adjust your headspace”.
I remember CSM R.T. Chittick as one of the finest soldiers with whom I ever served. He loved his country, he loved the Army, and he loved his soldiers.
Max Tritt, SFC (Ret)
K Trp, 78-80; I Trp, 81-2; HHT 82-84.
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Got an antidote about your time in the Regiment? let us know.
We’d like to capture your stories as part of the Regiment’s heritage.
get it written down.
These are the stories that add richness and humanity to our lineage that will be lost if we don’t record them now.
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Regimental Medal of Honor
recepient:
Harry Garland
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RANK: Corporal
CONFLICT/ERA: INDIAN CAMPAIGNS
UNIT/COMMAND:
2D U.S. CAVALRY
MEDAL OF HONOR ACTION DATE:
7 May 1877; August 20, 1877
MEDAL OF HONOR ACTION PLACE:
At Little Muddy Creek, Mont., at Camas Meadows, Idaho
CITATION:
Gallantry in action with hostile Sioux, at Little Muddy Creek, Mont.; having been wounded in the hip so as to be unable to stand, at Camas Meadows, Idaho, he still continued to direct the men under his charge until the enemy withdrew.
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Jim Steele, Tiger 6, writes with an engaging, machine gun staccato voice. You can feel the process of setting up an ambush as a young lieutenant in Viet Nam.
Pick up a copy for $30.00 through our donations page via PayPal or check to: 2d Cavalry Association | 1626 Comanche Road, Arnold, MD 21012
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